Connecticut Landmark Legal Settlements
Landmark $1M settlement with former group home operators accused of defrauding the state
In 1997, a precedent-setting $1 million settlement was reached with four individuals who allegedly defrauded the state. The lawsuit, filed in 1995, alleged that defendants used a network of self-dealing corporations to defraud the state out of more than $3.3 million in compensation for group homes. The case, which involved the defrauding of the Departments of Social Services and Mental Retardation by engaging in a pattern of racketeering involving group homes for the mentally retarded, was the state's first use of the RICO statute.
Estate of missing Connecticut man receives $1 million from cruise line
In 2007, Royal Caribbean Cruises agreed to pay more than $1 million to the estate of a Connecticut man who vanished from his honeymoon cruise in the Mediterranean. George Allen Smith IV, 26, of Connecticut, disappeared after a night of heavy drinking aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas as it sailed between Greece and Turkey in 2005. His new wife, Jennifer Hagel Smith, was found passed out on a floor far from the couple's cabin, the cruise line has said. She says she has no recollection of what happened and has passed an FBI polygraph test. The FBI investigated, but no charges were filed. Smith’s body was never recovered.
Mashantucket awards $2.9M in personal injury suit
A Massachusetts man who lost his leg in an accident at Foxwoods Resort Casino in 2006 received a $2.9 million settlement in a tribal court. Richard Murch, 69, and the Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Enterprise, agreed to settle the claim minutes before a trial was to begin in Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court in 2009. Tribal officials said it was their largest settlement to date.
The accident occurred when Murch and his wife Carolyn arrived at Foxwoods Grand Pequot Hotel where they planned to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. According to court documents, Murch was at the rear of his car getting things out of the trunk when a runaway car started by a valet crashed into him.
Copyright© 2012 LexisNexis. All rights reserved.